With high approval ratings stoking speculation that Shinzo Abe could become Japan’s longest-serving prime minister in recent history, he faces the risk of becoming complacent. Enter Akie Abe, his wife of 29 years. The 54-year-old daughter of a confectionery magnate is known as “the ...

First lady Akie Abe visited the village of Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture, to see a sit-in protest against the construction of U.S. military helipads. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was reportedly not aware of her visit beforehand. Revealing her visit on her Facebook page Sunday, the ...

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has outlasted those that scoffed at his return to power as leader of the conservative Liberal Democratic Party in 2012. And yet while the prime minister appears to have established himself as an increasingly dominant force in domestic politics over ...

As the leaders of the Group of Seven nations grappled Thursday with global economic issues, first lady Akie Abe introduced some of their spouses to the natural beauty and traditions of Japan’s spiritual heart. In tandem with the start of the two-day summit in ...

First lady Akie Abe suggested there will be no need to change the rules in order to extend the term of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. There are calls for changing the LDP’s rules to extend Abe’s ...

First lady Akie Abe on Saturday revealed plans to organize a trip to Ise Shrine for the wives of political leaders who attend the Group of Seven summit in Mie Prefecture in May. “It would be good if I could take the first ladies ...

First lady Akie Abe posted a Facebook update on Monday, the same day Japan and South Korea struck a landmark deal to resolve the “comfort women” issue, that she visited Yasukuni Shrine, presumably in the last couple of days. Noting that this year marks ...

Akie Abe, wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, harvested honey on Monday for the first time from Japanese honeybees she keeps in the inner garden of the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Tokyo. About 2 kg of honey was gathered from a beehive using ...

First lady Akie Abe said Tuesday that she visited Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo earlier in the day. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wife wrote on her Facebook page that she “felt different” during her latest visit to the Shinto shrine because it came three days ...

Akie Abe, wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, plans to keep a bee hive in the inner garden of the Prime Minister’s Official Residence in central Tokyo, it was learned Saturday. She will set up the hive as early as this month, and aims ...